Quiet Power by Susan Cain

Susan Cain(the author of Quiet Power) shows in her book that introverts pursue quiet and more minimally stimulating environments.

Summary of Quiet Power by Susan Cain: there are many examples that introverts are facing difficult situations especially at school or in society.

Central Idea: introversion is overlooked by society/there is no avoiding fact that introverts are facing challenging situations in their life. However, by changing the right tools and education style introverts can not only persevere but flourish.

Theme:

  1. Always be yourself. (does not matter you are an introvert or extrovert, you are a significant part/one of society.
  2.  Many places need introverts and extroverts to be successful. (talks about the relationship between Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.)
  3. Nothing wrong with being an introvert.

I really like this book and when you scroll down, please notice the central idea and themes of this book!!

We live in an extroverted world. We admire the people who know how to draw attention to themselves such as pop stars, movie stars, models, divas, etc. At school, those who regularly raise their arm are usually the ones who get the better grades, and in the working world, it’s often those who shout the loudest who ascend the career ladder fastest.  In chapter 1, the author(Susan Cain) is introducing the definition of introverts and extroverts and says that introverts are ideal. As I read further, I saw so many sentences describing and showing that introverts are overlooked by a society which is the central idea of this book. Additionally, by giving the example of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks on page 12, I realized that theme of the book is introverts and extroverts, both are needed for the society to succeed.  Hence, there were one central idea and one theme in chapter 1.

  • used bullet points, short write’ in response to questions or showing your personal reflections, and arguments.

Second theme: There is nothing wrong with being introverted.

In chapter 2, the summary of chapter 2 is basically introverts can excel in the classroom when teachers provide the right environment. In this chapter, the author(Susan Cain) argues that “introverts are afraid of speaking in front of the whole class” is just their(introverts’) perspective, they just birthed with it. With this, I noticed that the author tries to message readers that there is nothing wrong with introverts. Thus, there was a second theme in chapter 2.

  • used bullet points, mind map, narrative/information.

Third theme: Always be yourself

In chapter 4, the main idea is a fear of loneliness should not make introverts compromise on a real relationship. The author argues that one close/true relationship is equal or better than a bunch of acquaintances. Because one close friendship has higher credibility and can help each other more. Thus, always be yourself is a really suitable sentence in this chapter. p.91 is also supporting this theme too. Therefore, there was a third theme of this book in chapter4.

Thank you for making it all the way to the bottom of my post. If you are interested in this topic, check out the book Quiet Power by Susan Cain.

(+someone might be curious why are there chapters 1,2, and 4 which are the beginning of the book. It is because the middle and final part of the book is just an example of a situation of introverts and tips for introverts, so the main idea is all at the beginning of the book.)